Digital Marketing in Real Estate

1.1 Introduction

This chapter gives the introduction to chapter one as well as the outline of the background of the study. It also provides the problem statement, objectives of the study, research questions, and importance of the research, limitations, and delimitations of the research as well as the scope of the study.

1.2 Background of the Study

Digital marketing has become the norm in many industries, the United Kingdom real estate sector is believed to be among the countries that have kept up with the trend. According to Çengel & Öztek, (2014), a boom has been witnessed in real estate listings and portals. Nevertheless, the consumers have kept up with the standards by taking advantage of the digital marketing platform to get their desired properties. The consumers are believed to be conducting detailed searches on various agency portals, they go through trustworthy comments and reviews before they decide on which property to purchase and from which agency. With the warming up of real estates in the United Kingdom, the sector is bound to make use of digital marketing with immediate effect (Çengel & Öztek, 2014). Some studies have shown that the year 2017 would be a greater year for the United Kingdom real estate and the property sector as most agencies would make use of the online business transactions (White, 2011).

Property and real estate segment entail good communication between the property developers and the investors. Proper communication between the concerned parties in this sectors relies on good marketing strategies. Good incorporation of digital marketing in the property and real estate business depend on the good handling of data. Digital marketing has been an ongoing process for effecting the processes in the property and real estate sectors all over the world (White, 2011). The incorporation has ensured proper handling of data that has led to proper transactions between the real estate owners and their target customers. Similar studies have been performed in various parts of the world courtesy of the rapid growth in the digitization process. In the United States, a study into the real estate sector found out that digital marketing established a proper communication between the agencies and the clients. The real estate agencies with the use of digital marketing are in a position to get more clients into their properties (Shaikh, 2017). The digital promotion in the real estate segment has enabled many real estate owners to improve on their ways of doing business. In various parts of the United Kingdom, many agencies have employed digital marketing for their properties, something that has ensured such property owners benefit fully. With digital marketing, the property and real estate sector, there has been a yield of 300% in the sales of properties. With this, the buyers have found a better way to view various properties as digital marketers in the United Kingdom have made it easy to ensure that the necessary information regarding various properties is available on the internet (Çengel & Öztek, 2014). The consumers have shown their satisfaction on the many properties they can choose from since the digital marketing process has made it easy to do the viewing from wherever they are.

The listings concerning popular real estate portals and various home buyers have constantly been faced with some unscrupulous behaviors, in that some individuals have made fake property listings on the various sites. So then, there is need to have a reliable listing on the various portals to ensure profitability of the agencies and the digital marketers.

1.3 Statement of the problem

The property and real estate sector in the United Kingdom has been on the growing end as many people have invested in the property and real estate industry. With the growth of investors in the field, there has been a need to market the properties (White, 2011). Most of the real estate investors in the United Kingdom have incorporated the use of digital marketing within their businesses with the aim of reaching out to as many customers as possible. Some of the real estate agencies have not employed the most efficient kind of digital marketing strategies (Shaikh, 2017). Some of the agencies may rely upon digital marketing platforms that are not important to the kind of customers they target. From the digital marketing strategies employed, the potential customers just needs to visit various sites to find the kind of properties and real estates they want. After which, they can communicate with the seller of the identified property regarding transactions leading to the acquisition of the property. But then some of the platforms have not been fruitful as very few potential customers visit them. Also, there was need to encourage other property and real estate agencies to incorporate digital marketing as it is the new trend to ensure faster transactions. Some of the digital marketing platforms that have been employed in the property and real estate agencies in the United Kingdom are not efficient as they do not give their users value for their money (Shaikh, 2017). Thus there has been a problem of dissatisfaction on the side of the users. The problems above gave the urge to study how the property and real estate industry in the United Kingdom incorporate the use of digital marketing within the business so that the information gotten from the study would help advice more real estate and property agencies to embrace digital marketing.

1.4 Objectives of the study

1.4.1 General Objective

The general objective of this study is to determine how the property and real estate industry incorporate the use of digital marketing.

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

To explain why property and real estate industry implement digital marketing within the business.

To determine the forms of digital marketing that property and real estate agencies tend to implement.

To explain how the property and real estate agencies approach the incorporation of digital marketing into their general marketing strategies.

To determine the effects of digital marketing on the relationship of property and real estate agencies.

1.5 Research questions

Why do property and real estate industry implement digital marketing within the business?

What forms of digital marketing do property and real estate agencies tend to implement?

How do property and real estate agencies approach the incorporation of digital marketing into their general marketing strategies?

What are the effects of digital marketing on the relationship marketing of property and real estate agencies?

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study shows how the Property and Real Estate Industry Incorporates the use of Digital marketing in the business and was aimed at being useful to the real estate agencies, the investors, buyers as well as the government. The users of the study were to find the study very crucial as it was supposed to enlighten them on the best ways to use digital marketing to ensure improvements of their operations in the property and real estate industry. The study was aimed at finding out the best practices that should be employed within the real estate sector to attract as many customers as possible. The users of this study were to be in a position of getting the best services from the digital marketing as most people find it very difficult to move to the real site where the property is located to have a keen assessment before purchasing. So this study was supposed to provide the users with the most ways to use the digital marketing that can give such important information concerning the properties. With that, both the investors, agencies and the buyers were aimed at getting satisfied. The study was also supposed to find how the users can get access to the safe sites that are not prone to unauthorized people changing the details or other unethical practices to ensure the success of businesses. The findings of the study were supposed to help the property, and real estate agencies maintain a good relationship with their customers as it was supposed to explain why the property and real estate industry implement digital marketing within the business. So that other investors can embrace the same as most people have adopted the digital ways of transacting in the businesses. The study was also supposed to provide a baseline to other real estate agencies in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world with valid reasons to emulate digital marketing in their business transactions with the aim of ensuring all digital marketing users enjoy the benefits associated with the practice.

1.7 Limitations and Delimitations of the Study

The focus of this study was to determine how the property and real estate industry incorporate the use of digital marketing within the business. But then, for the study to be accepted, enough data had to be looked for from various sources, enough financials had to be availed, and other resources had to be in place however limited they were. Quality researchers believe that reality should always prevail in their study. Various factors might have affected the study in one way or the other. For instance, biases on the side of various participants of the study might have affected the interpretation of the gathered information. Other participants also, questioned the trustworthiness and reliability of the study. The sections below are the limiting factors that were encountered in the course of doing the study, their effects on the research and how they were dealt with to ensure proper results of the study.

i. Timeframe

The study was supposed to be completed within a certain timeline that was very short. To ensure the deadline of the study was met, the researcher had to avoid certain time-consuming procedures (Shaikh, 2017).

ii. Financial Constraints

During the data collection to understand how the various real estate and property agencies employ the use of digital marketing in their business, the researcher had to travel from one agency to another, he had to visit various sites to gather the important information. But then, due to financial constraints, the researcher had to limit himself to a certain number of portals and agencies by maximizing every moment to fetch the credible data from the visited agencies and portals. The strategy also ensured that the researcher worked within the set budget meaning that with extra finances, the researcher would have visited many agencies in the United Kingdom to get as much data as possible.

iii. Sample size

The study task of identifying how the property and real estate industry incorporates the use of digital marketing in the business had a problem in getting data from various staffs. Even though there are many real estate companies in the United Kingdom and several portals regarding the housing sector, the researcher could only involve just a few organizations and portals in the study; this may not render the findings as representative. But then the study is believed to give the proper insight of how the property and real estate industry incorporates the use of digital marketing within the business.

iv. Personal biases

Even though the research was solely dependent on the honesty, integrity, and sincerity of the respondents, some of the respondents were not willing to provide the required information. The participants were also selected from the preferences of and judgments of the researcher. Due to this, only the Dublin-based organizations were involved in the study for convenience purposes.

1.8 Scope of the study

The study was supposed to be useful to various property and real estate organizations in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world to ensure most people embrace digital promotion in the real estate business. The study aimed at giving the users a proper understanding of how to handle their marketing in this digital era; as the study was supposed to give the reality to the users on how to get the necessary information without having to move from one place to another.

1.9 Assumptions of the study

The assumption that have been made in this study are:

The data collected from various sources was credible

Transaction history of various real estate agencies can be accessed by concerned personnel to effect business transactions.

Various staffs of the digital marketing sites interact fully with the property and real estate agencies to provide necessary information to the target customers.

Both the real estate agencies and the customers have basic computer skills and the ability to navigate through various sites.

References

Boutin Jr. Philip J. (2011). Mobile and Online Marketing Communications: Formulation of the Online Marketing Communications Mix: A Prescriptive Conceptual Model Based on Media Naturalness Theory. AMA Summer Educator’s Conference Proceedings, Vol. 22, p 29-30.

Castronovo, C. & Huang, L. (2012). Social Media in an Alternative Marketing Communication Model. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, Vol.6 (1).

Crowther, D. &. L., 2015. Research paradigms (positivist, interpretive and phenomenological). London: SAGE Publications Ltd.